POSTINGS: A $100 Million Job; Grand Central Renovation Team

Published: March 27, 1994

Hoping to repeat the "astounding success" of the Union Station redevelopment in Washington, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has selected the same real estate team to help plan and manage the $100 million renovation of Grand Central Terminal.

The redevelopment team is composed of LaSalle Partners, based in Chicago, and Williams Jackson Ewing, of Baltimore. Other finalists included Rose Associates and Tishman Speyer, both of New York.

LaSalle and Williams Jackson Ewing were responsible for the $160 million rebuilding of Union Station as a combination transportation hub, shopping mall and food court. That project was completed in 1988.

At Grand Central, the M.T.A. plans to expand retail space to 155,000 square feet from 105,000 square feet, while restoring features like the ceiling of the main concourse and improving public areas. The private team would receive up to $6.7 million in fees.

"Although Grand Central is not Union Station," said Susan E. Fine, director of real estate for the M.T.A., "the fact that one development team had been through the process of working with the public and the railroad and had achieved such astounding success was a very important factor."